Facsimile
by Identity-Not-Known
Summary: I'd always wanted to prove myself, to be something. However, in the expedition for power my morals have dwindled, along with the border of villainy and heroism.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since her father died, she had wanted to become something big.

Chiruchi was never a very active child, but preferred to stay in her garden along with her father, enjoying lying in the grass.

It would become one of her fond memories as she grew older, to feel the rays of the sun slowly caress her skin while hearing her mom whistling in the background, working around the house, occasionally joining them in the garden to care for the flowers in the front.

Being only four years old and daughter of the son of the leader of her clan, her moments not spent in the yard were wasted on her father or her older brother trying to teach her some tedious words relating to clan business.

Chiruchi absolutely loathed studying with all her little heart.

"Chiru-chan, are you listening?"

"Yeeeesssss…." She moaned while rolling her eyes. It was so hot, and here she was, sitting by the kitchen table when the wonders of her garden were simply a few meters away, hidden behind a transparent window.

Her brother, Matsui, frowned and put down the teaching book.

"Look at me."  
She stubbornly did so, pouting.

"I am trying to teach you and you're being a brat."

"I am not!" She gasped, affronted.

"Yes, you are. Now, write down the words for each picture." He said sternly.

"But it's hard…" She whined.

"No, it's not, I could already do this and more when I was your age."

_Here he goes again… _She thought, as she placed her hand under her chin and gave him her best 'I'm-bored-and-not-listening' look.

"Chiruchi, this is important! You might become clan-head someday and if you want to have any chance learning the secrets of our Clan-"

"But I _don't _want to become Clan-Head! You should be the one to do it, you're older after all."  
Matsui stiffened and Chiruchi immediately knew that she had crossed the line. Matsui grabbed the book and shut it, stood up from the table with not as much as a sound and left.

Chiruchi felt overtaken by anger and the bitter feeling of an unwanted career being forced down her throat and seethed in her seat.

As her anger began to fade away, she began to slightly regret her choice of words. Matsui had only wanted to help her after all, to prevent that she would have to experience the same thing as he had.

She knew that by now he was probably sulking in his room and she'd had to make it up to him.

The problem was, **Matsui had wanted to become Clan Leader.**

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Matsui was still in his room, sitting on his bed while angrily glaring out the window. Eight years of bitterness were clouding his mind like dark clouds, floating above him.

He was disturbed by his dark musings as he saw a paper slither through the crack under the door.

Curious, he stood up and made his way to it.

A small smirk came over his face as he saw the completed quizzes he had given Chiruchi earlier that day.

On the other side of the door, a persistent four year old was too proud to say sorry but could still see the error of her ways.

He ventured to his desk and pulled up a pen.

Meanwhile, it would be an understatement to say Chiruchi was surprised to see the paper _returning _from the bottom of the door.

She hesitantly picked up the paper.

A '95 %' mark prided the paper, along with a small '_Good job._'

She wanted to smile and frown at the same time. Smile, because she knew that Matsui, though angry at her would calm down and forgive her, and frown, because she was so sure she had gotten everything right this time.

She looked at her only wrong answer and was angry to see a misplaced 'Q' in one of the words.

_Maybe next time. _She thought somewhat dejectedly. And days like that were what the next two years or so consisted of for Chiruchi.  
She had occasional fights with her parents or brother, revolving around the Clan Head title but mostly just because she was still a child wand wanted to enjoy her few years of childhood.

Now, a six years old Chiruchi was staring into the distance, an old flower field that still bloomed.  
Her orange shirt and short green pants were quite the distraction from the dull violet color of the flowers.

"Honey, are you out there?"

Chiruchi looked up as she saw her mother approach her.

"Hey, mom." She said with a small smile on her face.

Masuyo looked down at her child as she sat beside her.

"Are you worried, Chiru-chan?"

Chiruchi looked up at her mother with her big dark brown eyes. Even though Chiruchi had been informed of various political events in her Clan, facts and influences she could not help but worry, she felt like something big was being kept secret from her.

"Tomorrow, mom, I'll have to undergo the mirror ritual, I'm not sure what to expect."

Her mother's gaze softened, she placed a hand on Chiruchi's shoulder.

"Don't stress it, little bird, I'm sure you'll do great, you've already passed the written tests, now, all that's left is-"

"The last one-" Chiruchi interrupted with a pathetic sounding tone, " I know, I know, but it's exactly that. Matsui failed when he- "

All seemed to stay still as the sound of skin meeting skin echoed and Chiruchi's head was whipped to the side, eyes wide open, not expecting the slap.

She looked up to her mother, hand still poised in the air threateningly, her eyes seemed to blaze with an unknown emotion.

"Don't you _**dare **_mention that in my presence ever again, am I clear?"

Chiruchi nodded once, silent.

"Good, make sure you're awake by sunrise tomorrow, save your mental strength."

As Masuyo started to walk back home Chiruchi could have sworn she heard her add 'Kami knows you'll need it. '  
It wasn't until Chiruchi was sure her mother was out of hearing/and seeing distance did she let a small tear escape from her eyes.

Her mother had never hit her before but she knew that she had hit Matsui a couple of times, it was usually connected to Matsui's failure regarding the Clan Head title.  
She touched her cheek tenderly and her eyes narrowed in determination.  
Her mother hitting her obviously showed just how upset and worried for her she was, Chiruchi would have to give it her all tomorrow and become the Clan Head to not fail her mother and father, even if the job didn't sound exciting.

With that new resolve in mind, the six year old stood up and trotted back home in self-assured strides.

As she fell asleep she didn't think for a second that tomorrow would bring upon her one of the worst days in her life.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter, but I thought it would be best if I cut it off there.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This disclaimer is for the whole story and all chapters that will be made.  
Alright people, this chapter should be a bit more spicy.

* * *

"Chiru-chan."

Mhmm…

"Chiru-chan, wake up."

…What?

Chiruchi slowly opened her eyes to see her father sitting in her bed, staring at her with his brown eyes.

She suddenly snapped awake and smiled.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see if you were ready for the ceremony and I find you sleeping in bed instead." He gave her a reprimanding but joking look. Chiruchi knew what he was getting at and bolted out of the bed.

"Yes sir!"

As she struggled to put pants on she halted as her father spoke.

"No Chiru-chan, you'll have to wear this."

He pulled up a simple silver dress, if anything it looked like a sack with a belt in the middle, a silver sack though mind you, and a silver cloak along with the dress.

"Huh.." She said as she stared at the clothes.

When she was finished dressing she looked in the mirror and was shocked to see that the silver color, or was it silver?, acted as a dense mirror, mirroring her reflection. Her father smiled.

"You look beautiful, Chiru-chan."

"Thanks dad!" She smiled.

"Now, come on, you don't need anything else, a part of the ritual is to come undone, in nothing else but the Clans protection." He said as he mentioned to her dress and cloak.

He stood up and she followed, they walked out of the house and Chiruchi couldn't help but notice that there was no one out in the streets and homes looked abandoned.

"Where are everybody, dad?" She said with astonishment. "It doesn't seem like there's anybody here at all…"

"That's because they're all waiting for you Chiru-chan."

"Eh?! Really?" She said smiling. "Because of the ceremony? The test?"

"Yes, they've all gathered to see you succeed."

"Dad?"

"Mhm?"

"What does succeed mean?"

* * *

Suddenly, as they walked into the Akanomi's Temple, Chiruchi couldn't help but notice how many people were there and how she just wasn't as excited as before, but nervous.  
They were all watching her, as soon as she stepped into the temple, in her mirror like clothing. The temple was dark with only two torches which were positioned in front of a staircase leading into the ground. The darkness contrasted strongly against the bright sunlight of the entrance.

Everywhere Chiruchi looked, there was a somewhat familiar face staring at her, that old lady at the shop, her friends and their parents, and somewhat related family members, everyone in the clan had shown up. Their expressions varied, from pride, happiness, impartial, jealousy and finally worry.

Matsui, with his blond hair and light pink eyes was staring at her with uneasiness, he gave a hesitant thumps up. She absently noted that Matsui did not stand next to her mother, or where the rest of her closely related family was, rather he seemed to be standing where the rest of the Clan was, people which she hadn't really talked to before. As her eyes wandered she noted a man she had not seen much of, her uncle, standing by, not that far from her family and watching her with intense interest. His eyes seemed almost like fire.

"Chiru-chan." Whispered her father.

She turned around and looked up at the tall man. She was alarmed for a quick moment, for she felt that the man towering over her was not her real father, but an imposter. Ridiculous as the thought was, the warmness seemed to have left his eyes, replaced by cold tenacity and something else…

_Greed?_

He squatted down to the balls of his feet so he could look her in the eyes and even though she knew this was still her same father, she couldn't help but be distrustful against him.

"Now, grandfather will come along and he will start the ritual, when he is finished he will motion you to go down those stairs-" He nodded towards the staircase. "Down there, you will find three mirrors, choose the one in the middle. It may seem like any regular mirror at first sight, but if you wait long enough, you will be able to enter it. When you have entered through the mirror you will face an important challenge, only you will be able to defeat it."

"I believe in you." He added.

And with that he stood up and Chiruchi saw that her grandpa was standing behind him. Her father turned around and bowed and walked to his place besides his wife.

Everything was silent as the elder gazed upon the crowd, he had seen them all grow up, he knew their flaws and weaknesses, their mistakes and errors. Finally, his eyes rested upon the small child and Chiruchi was shocked by the knowledge that seemed to radiate from his small brown eyes.

"Chiruchi Akanomi, daughter of Katsuro Akanomi, son of the Akanomi Clan Head, will you accept the title as Clan head?"

"Yes." Oh, Kami-sama her voice sounded so minor and unimportant in the large temple.

**Everybody is watching.**

"Do you swear to always put the Clan first, needs and personal longings the second? Do you pledge your utmost loyalty and devotion, your life, soul, mind and body to the Akanomi?"

"Yes!"

His eyes narrowed.

"And most importantly, _do you think you are worthy of that title?_"

"YES!" She spoke loudly, her nervousness making her panic under the scrutiny of her grandfather's gaze.

"Bring me your right hand child, and know that should one tear fall you will forfeit your right to the title."

Hesitantly, she brought her hand up and cursed herself for it could not stop trembling.  
The elder brought up a small dagger and for a half a second, Chiruchi could see her own brown eyes in the shiny reflection of the knife, not unlike the color of her grandfather.

As the dagger he held broke her skin Chiruchi was about to cry out when she spotted her father watching her, his gaze so penetrating that she willed herself with all her might to be quiet.

A painful minute later, her grandfather let her hand retreat. She looked on the sore flesh and observed the marking on her hand.

"The kanji for mirror, reflected." He explained said with a powerful voice.

And sure enough, on the underside of her wrist was a mirrored kanji, which could only be read properly by the means of using a mirror. The pattern did not escape her. Mirror ritual. Mirror dress. Mirror scarring.

"Chiruchi Akanomi, should you truly desire to become Clan Head, descend into the darkest place of this temple…"

She looked to him, as he paused to give it more value.

"And face **Yourself**."

As she turned around, she felt all eyes on her, her footsteps echoed each time she placed her foot on the floor, the fire of the torches fluctuated as there seemed like a gust of wind entered the temple.

She slowly lost sight of the Clan members as she descended down the stairs. She stood in a hallway and about ten meters or so in front of her were three mirrors.

She walked until she was in front of the middle mirror, she looked in the one in the right and was shocked when her reflection winked at her mischievously. She turned her head around and looked at the left and her reflection frowned at her.

It was only instinct that told Chiruchi to look away from the self-behaving reflections and focus on the middle mirror.

Chiruchi wasn't stupid or uneducated. She knew that she had basically been bred for her future job, the Akanomi Clan had been struggling for years to regain their former glory, but they had been a somewhat known Clan, famous for their Mirroring Jutsus.

However their Clan plummeted down when the financial crisis hit fifty years ago, their current Clan Head was around when the Akanomi´s where at their fullest, both financially and power wise.

Chiruchi had been trained though not much as physically as more mentally. She could do the occasional large jumps using her chakra or sprint really fast. She however knew no Jutsus except for the clone technique for it was somewhat popular amongst her clan. Her teachers had focused on teaching her the basics for all their Mirror jutus, the signs, chakra theory and all that.

One could not use a mirror jutsu without having completed the mirror ceremony and only few had a chance to try it. Those included where individuals who showed great potential and/or those in the direct descent from the Original Clan Head, he was called Kami Akanomi and was almost worshipped by the clan like a deity. Chiruchi was Kami Akanomi's descendant along with her family and therefore had a chance to prove herself.

Chiruchi stood face to face to the mirror and complete silence seemed to reign, she wasn't sure how much time had passed but she knew she had been staring at the mirror for a while now. Was the Clan still up there? Or had they left, deciding that she wasn't worth waiting for?

Suddenly, a very strange sight happened, the mirror started to alter, she couldn't explain what had changed but she knew something was astray.

Slowly, her hand reached forward, and touched the mirror gently, her reflection obeyed her, same face, same movements.

Abruptly, Chiruchi saw something flash in her eyes, no, her _reflection's _eyes and the hand of the reflection reached out of the mirror, startling her.

She watched in wonder as the reflection started to act on its own, she slowly took Chiruchi's hand and smiled gently, to show that she did not mean any harm. Chiruchi smiled hesitantly back at the mirror image, until that is, the face of her reflection grimaced into an ugly scowl.

Chiruchi was entirely unprepared when the Reflection hauled her into the mirror and to her surprise she went completely through it. She crashed harshly face-first into the hard stone ground.

"Ow!" She yelled out.

"Serves you right." The copy spat out.

"What? Why?" Chiruchi spluttered.

The copy narrowed her eyes and shifted her back leg to the side.

"You're trying to kill me."

Chiruchi blinked at the copy. Blood started to run down her temple from where she had fallen.

"Could you repeat that?"

That answer almost seemed to set the Copy on fire, the only warning Chiruchi got was an outraged hiss.

That and the foot to the face.

She yelped as she was thrown backwards, skidding after the ground. She sobbed pathetically as she felt pain engulf her and a weird cracking noise came from her spine. The Copy briskly walked over to her, looking as though she had been the one thrown into a wall.

Punches, punches and more punches was the bane of Chiruchi's existence for the next three minutes. She weakly tried to struggle back but the fury and ferocity that her Doppler seemed to inhabit was plain ridiculous.

She choked when the Copy grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled her halfway up from the floor.

"Now, you listen, you little bitch-" The copy was hindered from speaking when Chiruchi gave her a classic head butt to the forehead, however, head butts are painful for both participants and it sadly did not give her much of an edge.

The Copy's face twisted with anger and she smashed Chiruchi's head against the floor.

Chiruchi was crying, she was totally unprepared for a conflict of this caliber, she had sparred a couple of times with some of the other prodigious students but it was always that, _a spar. _Sparring didn't focus on killing the other opponent or striking blows that would cripple you for the rest of your life, that just wasn't how it worked.

"STOP IT! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She cried out desperately.

"You are pathetic!" The Copy yelled back, a blow following each word.

_I have to get out of here or else I'll be killed… _She thought frantically.

_The mirror!_

But how am I going to get even close to it without getting hurt by her in the process?

Chiruchi searched her mind furiously for the lessons she had learned from her teachers, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to defeat the Copy, but however she might just be able to distract her for a while.

The Copy suddenly backed off, taking a few steps back she raised her hand, obviously going for the killing blow, a punch so strong that it would splatter Chiruchi's skull.

"HHHHAAAAAAAAHHH!" The demonic Copy yelled out as she jumped to attack Chiruchi for the last time.

_Oh no she's coming and I'm gonna die andI'llneverseemomanddadagainor__**Matsui**__-_

Suddenly, the same instinct that had protected her from before acted out, a movement that her teachers had tried to engrave in her mind during their spars time and again suddenly responded rapidly and Chiruchi kicked as hard as she could in the air in front of her with all her might.

The Copy's speed made her unable to stop herself as she was rammed onto the oncoming foot and let out a pained moan. Her fist uncurled and her hand slowly returned to her side.

A pained cough.

Chiruchi could almost scream as the blood splatters that followed the cough dripped on her face. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly and closed again. She hesitantly drew her foot back and the Copy fell to Chiruchi's side on her stomach.  
Chiruchi slowly turned her face to look at the Copy, who was staring back at her with utter disbelief, face pressed against the dirt.

The astonishment quickly turned into what seemed to Chiruchi hell's wrath and she quickly scrambled up, biting back the pain before the Copy could stand up again.

"Noohh…" The Copy groaned as it tried to force itself to stand up.

Chiruchi slumped into the mirror and emerged from the other side. She shakily looked back and saw the Copy looking at her with vary eyes. The eeriness of watching your own face being distorted in disgust while looking at yourself was magnified by the dark shadow underneath her eyes and the deadly words she spat out next.

"Next time you come here, **I'll kill you.**"

Chiruchi said nothing, only stared back slightly before she turned around and started climbing up the stairs.

She felt the dense tension in the air and knew that everybody were still up there waiting, to see how it went. When Chiruchi entered the mirror she didn't know what her task was but she was fairly sure now what it was.

_She failed._

* * *

Please review and tell me what you thought about it, if there are any errors or something, or simply tell me how your day was.

I have over 6666 words typed up of this baby.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: No, I am not dead, however, my word program expired so I couldn't update, now I have a new one and it's features are awesome! I've been writing in word pad but I wanted to fix all the errors in word.  
You know, just a hint here, if you review, the chapters will be longer, like this one, and there will be less time in-between updates…. Hmm hmm

By the way, this is a pretty.. Mature fic, as in a bit dark and this chapter will certainly approach on that border so if you get squeamish easily, you might want to consider if you really want to read this.

Also, how long do you want each chapter to be? 2000 words? 4000 words? 6000 words?

* * *

__

She failed.

Chiruchi winced at every echo that carried the sound of her footsteps up the stairs and around the temple.

As she ascended from the stairs, the horrific silence was broken by numerous whispers.

Her grandfather, no, her **Clan Leader** stood on the exact same spot, it appeared that he had not even moved in her absence. She had never felt as intimated by the old, but tall man in front of her.

She could not turn around and look upon the faces of her family, to see the disappointment and displeasure from her father and mother. And most notably she could not bear seeing her brother's miserable, understanding face.

The Elder crossed his arms.

"Chiruchi Akanomi, do you think yourself worthy of being a Clan Leader?"

"No…" She whispered as she stared at the floor.

He frowned.

"Were you able to finish your challenge?"

Oh, he knew. He knew exactly what had happened down there, why would he purposely make her say it out loud?

_She was a disgrace._

"No, I couldn't."

Soft gasps from the spectators were heard and Chiruchi bowed her head even lower.

"Very well then. You are all dismissed."

And with that, he turned away and walked out of the temple, slowly, with power radiating from every step.

The crowd slowly started to disband, she kept still, standing on the temple floor and her shoulders sunk lowly and head down. She heard fast footsteps approach her and she tilted her head slightly up to see who was-

**_BAM_**

She hit the ground so hard that she briefly wondered if her jaw was broken. The strength of the punch alone was much, much stronger than anything the washed out Copy could have thrown and her body started automatically trembling from the pain.

Silence…

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH-" She was in horrible pain, her jaw wouldn't stop throbbing, the wounds from the earlier fight, no, _the beat down _were still fresh, she was six year old, she was lost, confused and hurt.

So she did the only thing she knew.

She screamed. She screamed so loud that the remaining Clan members looked and narrowed their eyes in distaste, after all, children needed to learn to be able to take a punishment.

If anything more shame than her failure was brought upon her family since evidently they hadn't raised her right.

"**_SHUT_**_**UP!**_**" **She felt a hard kick connect to her ribs as she lay on the floor and she whined pitifully.

"FATHER! STOP THIS NOW!" Matsui yelled enraged, he ran forwards to stop his bastard of a father but was quickly halted when some of the Clan onlookers grabbed him in a vice tight grip and forced him to stay still.

"This whole ceremony is sick! How can you do this to your own child?! I can't believe thi-" Whatever Matsui was going to say was stopped when a grimy hand covered his mouth, silencing him. He tried to shout more but the hands grip tightened and Matsui had to focus all his attention to breathe through the nose and not just feint from the lack of oxygen.

Katsuro stood over his own daughter, she laid on the floor wheezing from the kick. He stared at her with a somber expression.

"You disappointed me, Chiruchi. I actually thought that you would be better than that disgusting scum you call your brother. " His eyes glided towards Matsui. "He also failed, that pathetic fool."

"After everything we did for you, every god damn little thing, you still aren't good enough. You don't know how much your wretched mistake this night has cost our family!" A kick followed.

Wheezing.

"…Dad… Please…"

"You were supposed to make our family ascend, you would make up for your fiasco of a brother, and you'd become the Clan Head and lead the Akanomi to glory! BUT NO!"

He bowed down to her, sitting on the balls of his feet, but now, unlike before it wasn't to whisper comforting words to his youngest.

"Of course not, you couldn't. After all, you're a just bit too weak. That's what you get for slacking off in training anyways…" He stood up, intent on leaving his bloody child lying on the floor, he stopped walking when he heard a clapping sound.

Out of a bruised eye, Chiruchi hazily studied the man through her tears. It was her uncle from before, the one with the eyes who seemed like fire, he stared at the sight before him with an amused stare.

"Now, now, aren't you being a bit harsh on her?"

"Uruhi, I swear to Kami if you don't get the fuck out of he- " Her father bit back distastefully.

"You'll what? Punch me? My, I'm quivering."

The eyes of both males narrowed.

"In fact, that sounds like such a great idea I might just accept it." Uruhi continued.

"Spit it out, Uruhi." Her father said.

The man's eyes lit up with mischief.

"All that I'm saying is, that you're being too hard on someone who was never going to prosper anyways. After all the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Katsuro bristled.

"Or should I say the apples? I don't seem to have count anymore on these failed brats of yours." A charming smile made its way on his face.

"As you know, since she, your last hope, has failed that brings the question; who's gonna be Clan Leader?"

"I think that's obvious you fool, when Father dies, I'll take the title and after me some other prodigy." Katsuro said, bitter resentment echoing around in his words.

"Oh yeah, about that. You seem to be a little bit too sure of your status, Outoto-chan. Since you no longer have your children to piggy back upon, you and I share an equal standing."

_A disconcerting smile._

"The way to solve this of course…" He trailed off.

Katsuro looked at him, steel in his eyes.

_A twinkle in his eye._

"A match to the death."

"You're insane, we both know Father would still side with me. I will be the one to inherit the Clan." Katsuro said, his words laced with cold resentment.

Uruhi slowly scowled and his eyes seemed to emanate bitter anger. He slowly walked up to Chiruchi who was lying on the ground, trying to collect her strength to stand up.

How could her father have done this to her? She loved him! He loved her! How could one day change her life so much? Chiruchi couldn't voice how badly betrayed she was. Suddenly all the unspoken words that seemed to hang around Matsui seemed to make sense, now she could understand why he would always regarded their father with such a cold look and how he would make subtle jabs at their mother.

_Matsui has experienced what I am going through now, he was originally supposed to be the Clan Leader but failed the last test… The mirror Ceremony._

That's why he's always been treated so badly! Of course! I always just assumed that I was mom and dad's favorite but it runs so much deeper than that. He has almost no friends, he´s treated like an outcast when he's outside and when he goes to the store the clerk always gives him mean looks.

… That's what awaits me now?

Chiruchi was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Uruhi stalk up to her until a heavy foot slammed her head down to the ground. She yelped and tried to get away but Uruhi ground his foot harder into her head till she stopped.

Uruhi looked at Katsuro with a challenging gaze.

"You call me insane, are you sure you don't just need a little _motivation?_"He ground his foot even harder onto Chiruchi's head making her sob.

Katsuro almost looked offended.

"You're sadly mistaken if you think that worthless brat means anything to me."

Uruhi chuckled.

"Of course you don't care, you've been depending on your family to save your lousy ass and now when all has failed you, you simply don't give a fuck about them." Uruhi's voice had a strange edge to it.

" 'But Father, Father! _I _am the one who has a family, _I _have a wife and _I _have children whom I can pass the Title to. Uruhi doesn't. ' " Uruhi said mockingly.

"You sicken me." Uruhi hissed.

Before Katsuro could respond to the insult Uruhi was gone in a flash. Katsuro furrowed his brow and stared at the spot where Uruhi had been standing.

"What the-"

Everyone in the room froze when blood spewed into the air. A disgusting dripping sound was heard when it splattered down on the temple floor. Katsuro slowly turned his head to look behind him, his eyes wide and unfocused.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

The first one to scream was Chiruchi.

Matsui looked away in anger.

Uruhi ripped his hand out of Masuyo's ribcage and she fell to her knees, her face twisted into an expression of total shock and pain.

Uruhi licked some of the blood of his hand.

Masuyo struggled to look down to see the wide hole in her chest. She looked up again on her husband who was staring at her as if his own heart had been torn out.

"…K-kats..u-" Before she could finish speaking, Uruhi placed his foot on her back and pushed forwards harshly, producing a revolting smashing sound as her face hit the floor without her having any means to stop herself.

Masuyo slowly stilled and stopped twitching. A corpse was lying on the temple floor.

Chiruchi started crawling towards her dead mother, shell shocked. The movement snapped Matsui out of it and he used the disbelief of his captors to swiftly tear himself away from them. He ran to Chiruchi and jumped on her and held her still.

"Matsuuuiiii…. She's hurt, mom's hurt! LET GO AND LET ME SEE MOM!" The angst ridden hiccups made her form shake violently.

Matsui ignored her cries and held her tighter, careful not to hurt any preexisting wounds. He wanted to puke as he felt the tears and blood of his little sister soak up his shirt.

Uruhi licked his bloodied lips and smirked, he stared right into his younger brother's eyes.

"Motivation enough?"

Katsuro clenched his eyes for a moment and inhaled quickly, when he opened his eyes they were no longer glassy or unfocused, but seemed cold, like something had just died and in a way, it had.

"Fine, we'll have it your way, you disgusting filth." His voice was rough and husky.

Uruhi grinned and stepped on the corpse of Masuyo as he walked over to Katsuro. Uruhi's eyes gleamed.

"Oh, and by the way, let's settle this like real men. No fancy ninjutsu only taijutsu-."

He was barely finished speaking when a fist advanced rapidly to his face, he sidestepped the punch made by his anger-fueled brother. He moved his right foot behind Katsuro's feet and swiftly grabbed his neck with his right hand, he then used his foot blocking Katsuro from moving as leverage and smashed Katsuro down to the floor.

Katsuro landed with the back of his head on the floor and gave an inaudible groan. He quickly recovered and seized Uruhi's foot and pulled as hard forwards as he could. Uruhi crashed onto him and soon the two were fighting over dominance, rolling on the floor, exchanging punches and the like.

Chiruchi's stared at the fight, her eyes were open and the once beautiful brown color seemed to have faded into a dull one.

It didn't take a genius to see who was going to win. Despite all of her father's fury and wrath, he was steadily losing the fight.

_A match to the death._

_Uncle will kill him if I don't do anything._

But I can't stop him! I'm not strong enough.

But why should I help him? He betrayed and hurt me.

This is my fault, if I could have passed the test none of this would have happened.

Mom wouldn't be… _**Dead.  
**__  
Dad wouldn't hate me anymore and uncle wouldn't be on the brink of killing him either!  
_

Chiruchi looked over Matsui's shoulder to the stairs leading down deeper into the temple. She knew what she had to do, there was only one way to fix the disaster she alone had caused.

Matsui was relaxed and wasn't holding her as tight anymore, he appeared to be deep in thought and conflicted about his feelings. It took him by surprise when suddenly with as much force as she could she ripped herself out of his hold and ran as quickly as her little feet allowed.

"Chiru-chan! Come back here!" He yelled as he started running after her.

Every step hurt for Chiruchi, her head was pounding and she was afraid that she might pass out before she reached the mirror. However the adrenaline seemed to keep her in a frightening awareness of her surroundings. She felt a crack in her left knee that made it even harder to run but she forced herself to go even faster, she was running down the last step.

_So close_.

She briefly felt Matsui's hand graze her cape.

And then she jumped.

She entered the mirror and came rolling into the reverse version of the temple.  
Her reflection stood there in front of her and looked down on her. The Copy was as badly bruised and hurt as Chiruchi was, it seemed that all damage Chiruchi would receive the Copy would too.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" The deadly calm tone of the Copy made Chiruchi look up, only to see that the Copy had finally snapped.

"HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE!?"

The copy stepped hard on Chiruchi´s foot as she laid on the ground staring back at her, making her wince.

_The way to win the test…_

Up against the wall was an old rock surrounded by little rubble. It had once been a part of the wall but had broken off.

The Copy went down on four limbs over Chiruchi and sat on her stomach, making her wheeze. She then proceeded to slap her.

"THIS IS _MY _DIMENSION! YOU HAVE _NO! RIGHT! TO! BE! __**HERE!**__" _ Every blow became harder than the last one.

_The way to complete the ceremony…_

" I HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO YOU! I ALWAYS MINDED **MY! OWN! FUCKING! BUISNESS!**" She was punching quite hard now. She could have sworn if she listened hard enough she could hear Matsui whimper in the background at each punch.

_…Is to kill your own reflection. _

Chiruchi's eyes snapped open, intense insanity and irrationality shining from the brown orbs. She had been slowly reaching for the rock for some time, her fingers could touch it.

_Now!_

Her fingers locked around the stone and she heaved it at the crazy, yelling Copy on top of her. The rock clashed against her skull, straight in her temporal bone. She abruptly stopped yelling and stared down at Chiruchi. Her eyes slowly moved to her left where the rock was halfway into her skull.

"I-I.. just..did-..nt wa-a..nt to ..die." She whispered, stuttering.

The copy fell towards gravity, which unfortunately happened to be Chiruchi. She stiffened up when a dead version of herself tumbled on her, even more blood coating her face.

She slowly pushed the Copy off of her and sluggishly forced herself to stand up.

_She'd done it, she had passed the test. _

Chiruchi felt like she couldn't breathe, she started inhaling, exhaling, quicker, more air, she couldn't breathe, she was going to die, why wasn't she getting any air?

"CHIRU-CHAN!" She was snapped out of her hyperventilating from Matsui's scream. She turned around and saw him staring at her with wide eyes from the other side of the mirror.

Matsui stared at his little sister, covered in blood and dirt looking up to him with unbelievable pain and confusion in her eyes. He noticed something snapping inside her little eyes. She broke.

She ran through the mirror and cried as hard as she could, she gripped his waist tightly and held on furiously, he hugged her back and made calm soothing pats over her back as she cried.

As her sobs began to calm, he picked her small form up and started ascending up the stairs. The occasional sniff broke the silence but besides that she was quiet.

His grip on her tightened.

He had seen everything that had happened on the other side of the mirror and to be honest with himself, he was afraid. He didn't know what would happen to Chiruchi, nobody had ever tried to reenter the mirror and slaughter their own reflection after failing. How would the Clan react?

Chiruchi couldn't feel it yet, but something was missing, he felt it as soon as she stepped out of the mirror, of course he knew what it was. That was why he was so angry when he discovered what he had to do. The Akanomi Clan was sick and twisted, their mirror jutsu should be terminated. He only hoped Chiruchi would be strong enough to not make her power ruin herself.

But as he hoped, he knew it was futile and that Chiruchi had a long, weary road of life experience to look forwards to.

He arrived to see that Uruhi had his hand raised in the air, undoubtedly to pull the same stunt as he did with Masuyo but Katsuro was using both hands to hold him away from himself, both looked worse for the wear. Katsuro was the first to notice them come up, a look of disbelief crossed over his face before it turned into a smile.

Uruhi tried to continue stabbing him but he hissed at him.

"You idiot! Look!" Uruhi distrustfully looked at the young siblings and froze.

"Hahahaha! She did it, Uruhi! My little girl did it!"

Uruhi's eyes widened in a split second and the air went stale. The rage almost seemed to be bursting out of his eyes. He started shaking, on top of Katsuro, until finally he snapped and screamed.

"THAT DOESN'T FUCKING COUNT! IT'S NOT ALLOWED TO TRY AGAIN! SHE'S A TRAITOR!" His voice broke off a pitch.

"IT'S NOT TRADITON!" The desperation could be heard in his voice. He was losing and quickly, since Chiruchi had in fact passed the test, no matter how late, even he didn't know how the Clan leader would take it.

Was he really going to lose his chance?

_Oh hell no._

Katsuro chuckled menacingly under Uruhi's grip. He spit out some blood which slurred onto the ground.

"I think you have yourself beat, dear Nii-san."

His only warning was the narrowing of Uruhi's eyes.

"Nobody ever said that the match was over, Katsuro Akanomi." The last sentence was spoken with much seriousness, but Katsuro could not reply back.

Not when his heart was no longer inside his ribcage.

Whatever powerful technique Uruhi had up his sleeve to be actually able to rip people hearts out, he wasn't afraid to use it in a 'non-jutsu' battle.

_Holy shit._ Matsui thought as he frantically covered Chiruchi's eyes with his hand. It was too late, she had already seen it.

Her face deformed into a horrified scowl and started sobbing. Matsui couldn't help himself when he felt tears leak down his face either.

He had often thought about how he wouldn't cry if his parents would just die. He'd finally be free of their oppression, he wouldn't have to cry himself to sleep on those especially bad nights where his own blood parents would rather stab themselves than admit that he was anything but scum.

Though, he felt strangely empty inside with looking at the scene, he absently noted that Chiruchi had stopped sobbing and was almost deadly still in his arms, but even though he couldn't bring himself to feel sad about their deaths he couldn't stop the tears either.

He, however knew that if he didn't do anything their own death would approach.

Uruhi held up Katsuro's heart and dropped it to the ground, he stepped on it and ground it into the floor. Luckily he had still covered Chiruchi's eyes, but he almost wanted to puke from the twisted act.

He stood up and gently coaxed Chiruchi into laying in his arms, her face laying on his shoulder, so she wouldn't have to face their parent's murderer.

"Uncle," He began, voice slightly strained. „We'll go away, we'll disappear, whatever you want, just please let us go. There is no purpose in killing us- " Each word was measured with carefulness, Matsui was sure that just a slight insult to the older man could make him blow up like a pipe bomb.

"But there's no purpose in letting you live either, is there? " Uruhi drawled, eyes narrowed as he stared at the blond boy in front of him.

Matsui only swallowed.

"In fact, _I_ think, that it would only be an insult to your father if I _didn't_ kill you." Uruhi closed up on the siblings, he towered over Matsui despite the fact that he had always been rather tall for his age.

Uruhi reached into his pocket and whipped out a kunai. Matsui instantly narrowed his eyes in sudden understanding.

_Why had he brought a kunai to the Mirror Ceremony? It didn't make sense, plus the fact if anyone would find out, it would be considered horrible etiquette. _

_And that only leaves one thing left... _

_He knew, or highly suspected that Chiruchi would fail and had most likely plotted the whole following fiasco to a T. _

That said, trying to convince Uruhi to not kill them would be futile, for he had already made his decision how the whole thing would end long time ago.

Matsui studied the man in front of him, Uruhi was panting slightly, his clothes were ripped and his usual perfect hair had fallen down from its normal style and pooled around his head.

_He's obviously going to try to use a kunai to kill us, but he has that hand technique, why doesn't he just it? _

_It must use a lot of Chakra for him to be only able to use it twice in such a short time, i.e. He's weak!_

_We could use this for our advantage, but I'll need to distract him first. _

"What did you have against my father anyways?" He blurted out. Uruhi halted.

"_What?_" He bit out.

Matsui brought up his foot and kicked with all his might into Uruhi's crotch, he admitted that it was a low blow, quite literally, but frankly, he didn't give a damn and he couldn't deny the sweet satisfaction of hurting the older man.

Uruhi stiffened all up, his face a mixture of pain and surprise at the young boy's action. Matsui ran past him and dodged a hand that was coming for his hair. He had to get away with Chiruchi, he ran as fast as he could out of the temple and almost screamed when he tripped on a rock and fell on his face.

Needless to say, Chiruchi was also hurt and he could almost slap himself for being such an idiot. But of course the self-hurting part would have to come later, since the screams of 'GET BACK HERE!' and 'YOU PATHETIC SON OF A BITCH' were strongly motivating him to run as fast as his little feet could run.

* * *

_It was funny. _

He had escaped with Chiruchi out of the temple, he had run with the six year old in his arms from a crazy psychopath, throughout the village, running into alleyway's, over carts, even taking momentarily shelters behind one of the garbage cans.

He had run all the way out in the woods and hid himself and Chiruchi in a bush, yes very creative, but where else was he supposed to hide? In the trees? Well, that would be a good idea if he could move his arms. Which he couldn't. He had exhausted himself and couldn't move his arms or feet. He just laid there, besides his little sister, staring at the green leaves obscuring his vision.

He hadn't eaten breakfast, for he had been almost nauseous that morning.

Oh boy, what a mistake that was.

Chiruchi hadn't said anything since the temple incident and seemed to be in a state of shock. Matsui supposed that was a good thing considering she would not be able to control herself if she would see the large animal looming over them.

No, the woods were never a safe place.

He thought it was hilarious how after escaping Uruhi, surviving one of the most traumatizing(or dangerous) experiences from his life, discounting the accident since ten years ago and random mob-chasing by the civilians which happened every three years or so, he was now going to die in a fucking bush.

Funny.

What a respectable death he would have, killed beside his younger sibling by a bear which he could have easily avoided by climbing a large enough tree. Well, bears could climb trees but that was beside that point, he should have been able to avoid this, he was a fucking idiot.

He glanced sideways to Chiruchi, who still laid motionless on the forest floor.

At least she wouldn't feel anything, she was only six years old.

A paw lazily entered the bush and banded away the branches in its way.

_Fuck._

A large head popped inside and small, curious brown eyes stared at him. The nose of the bear was moist and the fur black.

A black bear, he could just give up any hope he had left.

The beast opened its mouth, revealing a long pink tongue and a row of large, destructive teeth.

A lone tear ran down his left cheek but he remained unmoved.

Despite his inner panic at the situation he suddenly noticed something. As the bear moved its head closer to him, he got a better look at its chest and observed the yellow like crescent marking on its chest, a sun bear then, not a black bear.

The bear whipped out its long pink tongue and licked the tear off Matsui's face.

_What the..._

It was a warped situation for sure, the bear had smelled the blood coming off them and was now licking Matsui's few cuts from when he was held down so he wouldn't help Chiruchi.

He hoped that the bear would only be satisfied with their blood, but the bear had changed over to Chiruchi and was licking her head.

Well, sun bears were omnivores after all.

He noticed with growing horror that when the bear started licking Chiruchi's hand he started gently nipping at it with its large teeth, soon to break more skin.

_Holy shit_

He had to do something. Scare it off or something.

He coughed pathetically and his body shook, though it was pitiable and was nothing like the war cry he had imagined he would be able to muster up, the bear looked at him verily and Matsui responded by hissing up more coughs. Dear kami, his neck was so dry he couldn't even feel it anymore, he couldn't swallow if he tried.

The bear seemed to lose interest and removed its head from the bushes and lazily waddled away from the bush and started climbing a nearby tree to look for some honey. The Sun bear was after all famous for its appetite of termites and beehives.

Matsui held his breath until the bear walked away. As he faded into unconsciousness of rambled thoughts he was able to think one clearly.

_'I bet we're gonna get infection from all that bear drool...'_

* * *

When he woke up, it was day, but he strongly suspected from the coldness in his whole body and mind-shattering hunger that he had slept through the last day and night. He sat up propped up on his arms and took a deep breath. Moving hurt and he felt like his muscles had been torn apart numerous times, but he could move, and that was improvement.

He looked to his side to see that Chiruchi looked a little blue and something...

Chiruchi's wounds were _moving._

Or rather to say, little ants scurried around on her open wounds, which were enjoying the blood feast with their little ant mouths.

Matsui screamed at the morbid scene. He did not waste time to check upon himself, to see if the same ants were on him, crawling on his wounds, which they were but rather heaved the unconscious Chiruchi up and jumped out of the bush and shook her, trying to get rid of the ants.

"Shit, shit, shit SHIT!"

He ran franticly around, until he stumbled upon a little puddle of a pond and quickly soaked her in it.

He had a twisted frown on his face and looked like he would snap at any moment as he picked the little black, but drowned ants, that hadn't floated into the water out of his sister's wounds.

He leaned over the small body who was so cold and he shook, he felt like sobbing but no tears came out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He whispered with a hoarse voice.

He undressed until he was only on his underpants, removed Chiruchi from her wet mirror clothing and warped her up in his dry ones. Slowly he laid down in the shallow pond and cleaned his wounds from the little insects. Fortunately for him, there wasn't nearly as much of them on his person.

He stood up and did a round of jumping jacks to make himself a little warmer than before.

"I'll need a fire." He didn't have any tools on his person, it wasn't like he could stop by his home for camping gear.

Fucking Uruhi.

He broke off the tiny and weak branches of the trees around him and gathered them into a messy pile. He was able to start a fire, a small one but a fire all the same.

He laid Chiruchi's clothing to the side of the fire and put Chiruchi on the other side.

He rotated between rubbing Chiruchi's legs and arms to get some heat in them and holding her clothes to the fire.

'I need a plan.' He thought.

Surely they could not survive in the woods for long, in fact, he had decided that as soon as Chiruchi's clothes were dry again they would begin to look for the next village. He was sixteen and by some standards a grown man, hopefully, he would not have a trouble finding a job.

The thought hit him unlike any other force he had felt before.

_He couldn't go back home._

If he would fail to provide for himself or Chiruchi he couldn't run back home, shame written upon his face to ask forgiveness of his parents. Even if they were alive, Uruhi would slaughter him on the spot, he knew that it was fools luck that he had survived the encounter with the older man, much less with Chiruchi. Uruhi, despite his obvious lust for control along with power and raging jealousy was a smart man, in fact, Matsui supposed, he was a better candidate than his father to lead the Clan.

The only reason Katsuro was supposed to get the title was because of his kids, the heirs.

Uruhi was unmarried, had no kids and frankly, Matsui doubted any woman would like to sleep with the fox.

Seemed his grandfather suspected that too.

He looked up to the tall trees, they were located to the north east of the village that meant they were only a couple of kilometers from the main road, once he could follow it, they would eventually find a nearby village.

He briefly entertained the idea to go and live in the ninja village of his country but dismissed it. Grass was way too dangerous to live safely within, much less with a six year old.

Talking about the six year old, she had woken up but she showed no emotion, just stared into the air. Though she wasn't cold anymore, she still seemed deep in some kind of a Trans.

He needed to get her to a doctor or a healer, now.

* * *

"Are you serious? What the hell happened to her?! She might be half-dead." She paused for a second and sized him up. "Scratch that, what the hell happened to the both of you! This is horrible, get in, right now!"

"Yes." He mumbled half surprised at the wrath of the nurse as he walked in.

"Get in here, Sheidi is inside there, she is the head medic so she'll be able to patch you up."

Matsui didn't know what he was expecting but it wasn't a blue haired girl with huge doe eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Get in." She mentioned to the door to the medical room.

"Aren't you younger than me?" He said with a sweat drop.

The girl immediately scowled and pointed a finger at him as she spoke.

"Yes, I am, but I'll have you know that I'm the only one in this place that knows medical ninjutsu, which may be the only thing that can save your sorry ass and I happen to be damn good at it."

"Of course, I'm sorry." He said apologetic.

"Please just heal us, or her at least so she'll finally wake up." He added as an afterthought.

She hmpf'd and guided him through the door.

Matsui stared hopeful at the green glow submerging around Chiruchi's body, Kami, he hoped she would be okay. He put on the best poker face he could muster as the little medic- head medic- glanced to him as she was healing and said : "You better have enough money for this, she's badly damaged, it'll take a lot of my chakra to heal her up. "

He just nodded and put on a small smile.

_Shit._

_He didn't have __**any**__ money at all_.

The medic sighed, slightly fatigued.

"There, that should do it. Now she'll just have to rest for a few days, I expect her to wake up after six hours or so and when she does you'll have to feed her but you can't give her too much, no matter how much she asks, or else her stomach might explode or she'll just throw the food back up. It seems to me that she hasn't eaten for a couple of days so I think it's the best action to take."

"Do you recommend anything special to give her? Like vegetables or something?"

The medic looked thoughtful for a second.

"Actually I think you should just start with rice or some bread, then slowly move on to fruits and meat, let her stomach take it easy."

He nodded and she went over to him and suddenly a wonderful feeling submerged him as she started healing him. The feeling however turned into pain as he literally felt his flesh knit back together. The medic paused in her healing and pricked at the almost healed muscle.

"Why did you stop?"

She looked at him with a weird look and picked up a dead ant.

"Wouldn't want this to heal into your muscle, would we?"

"Heh, I guess not." He said, slightly more traumatized than he should be. His left eye involuntarily twitched and he had to control himself to keep his breathing steady.

The medic turned around and said with a satisfied look;

"Now, about the payment."

* * *

A/N: As you can see I enjoy writing beatings and a bit of morbid scenes. Or what? Is it morbid? Is it not that disgusting, should I change the rating?

So in this chapter we see how the mirror ceremony goes and get a small peak into the workings of the Akanomi clan, a bunch of sociopaths if you ask me. I however relished in writing Uruhi and I am almost positive that he will appear again later in the story. I think I will have a couple of time skips, but I will not hop over the important events in Chiruchi's and Matsui's development. I am anxious to finally get some canon characters into the story but hey, good things take time and I don't want it too rushed.

Reviews would be appreciated, again.

Oh, and two questions more;

1. Do any of you have an idea of what Chiruchi's powers(use of the mirror Jutsus) will be like? I have to say I'm feeling a bit creative. I have them memorized and all, I just wanna see your guesses.

2. Is anyone reading this story Icelandic? It surprised me that some of the ratings had the nationality of Iceland.

_ Ef þú ert íslensk/ur þá væri gaman ef þú gætir sent mér í review ; "ice" ~_

Hope you guys like it.


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